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Adversary for a strange hero: depictions of journalists in Showtime's Dexter with comparisons to Jeff Lindsay's novel Darkly dreaming Dexter

Adversary For a Strange Hero
Depictions of Journalists in Showtime's Dexter
With Comparisons to Jeff Lindsay's novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter
By Shea Huffman
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
JOURNALISM
2013
Copyright 2013 Shea Huffman

This paper analyzes portrayals of journalism in the Showtime series Dexter with comparisons to the show's primary source material, the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. The portrayals of journalists in the show mostly fit into the show's use of recognizable crime drama conventions, fulfilling the role of self-interested adversary to the police tasked with solving murders. These conventions, particularly those that apply to journalists, are the primary frame of reference for analyzing portrayals of journalism within the show. Dexter, however, is not a conventional crime drama, as the protagonist is himself a serial killer hiding in plain sight as a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department. The show exploits as well as parodies many crime drama conventions to simultaneously create sympathy for the murderous Dexter and poke fun at America's morbid interest in gruesome crime scene investigation shows. ❧ While the show mostly maintains a conventional crime drama portrayal of journalists as obstructions to be overcome by the police, it does not portray them as outright enemies, instead showing them as selfish agents of the sensational media at worst, and potential allies of the police (and occasionally of Dexter himself) through either manipulation or outright cooperation at best. In fact, police often use the media as a political tool throughout the series, and reporters are depicted more as a natural part of the social system surrounding the public sphere of crime fighting. ❧ The character of newspaper reporter Christine Hill in the series's fourth season also figures prominently, as her nature as a journalist plays a significant role in the audience's perception of her character. Dexter uses conventions established around aggressive female reporters to frame Hill's complex character in a way viewers could understand, especially considering her surprise revelation as an antagonist. The character is not entirely consistent with portrayals of antagonistic journalists in other crime dramas, however, as her actions as a journalist are not uniformly negative. Her emergence as an enemy of the police is not because of any journalistic career motivations, but rather due to her own mental instability regarding her father (himself a serial killer). ❧ Depictions of journalists in Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by comparison, are almost entirely negative, mostly focusing on the image of the anonymous reporter. Since the novel is written in the first person perspective of the serial killer Dexter Morgan, the portrayals of journalists must be viewed through the prism of that character's mind, and the author's intentions in creating it. The negative portrayals of journalists are not a result of Lindsay's own views of reporters, but rather a product of his attempt to accurately capture the superiority complex inherent in the mindset of a psychopathic murderer. Lindsay plays upon the obstructionist archetype of the anonymous journalist seen in crime and mystery genres to emphasize the character Dexter's derision for those involved in professions of investigation that he views as inferior in their ability to understand the minds of killers.

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Adversary For a Strange Hero
Depictions of Journalists in Showtime's Dexter
With Comparisons to Jeff Lindsay's novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter
By Shea Huffman
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
JOURNALISM
2013
Copyright 2013 Shea Huffman